


Two Shots of Espresso

by Kaylieshorthalts



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Slow Burn, coffee shop AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-13
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2019-01-16 11:19:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12341646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaylieshorthalts/pseuds/Kaylieshorthalts
Summary: After months of trying to find some kind of inspiration to put into his upcoming (and very delayed) album, Scanlan finds himself wandering the early morning streets in the hopes that something will come. It doesn't, and then it does - in the form of a quaint coffee shop, blonde hair and a brilliant smile.





	Two Shots of Espresso

_February 22nd_

Despite loving the way snow looks - having to traverse it daily was a nightmare. Especially when it lost that magical feeling. The quiet beauty of freshly fallen, undisturbed snow, not yet trodden relentlessly into the ground by muddy footprints. Instead, it turned into an unpleasant kind of grey-brown slush. By now, thankfully, it was just beginning to clear, and winter was finally at its close.

Scanlan always found himself cheery around spring. Perhaps it was the colourful flowers blooming left right, and, centre; perhaps it was the closure of winter itself. The season had never sat particularly well with him. The long nights and dreary days left him tired and cranky more often than not. Maybe it was that? Or maybe it was the family Christmas dinners.

He paused a moment. It was definitely the family Christmas dinners. 

As a child he’d prayed for the day his mother would stop inviting his father out of sheer politeness. His father, his new wife (who was probably, like, 10 years younger than his mother), and his new wife’s three snot nosed nightmare children from hell. He shuddered - either from the cold, or from remembering the time the kids had gone into his bedroom and trashed everything to the point it was unusable. Shredded school books, stolen money, crayons and markers scribbled all over his lavender walls. The time they had to eat out of paper plates for a month because they couldn’t afford to buy new ones after their crockery had been completely smashed to bits.

That day came, eventually, on the eve of his 15 birthday. His greatest gift turned out to be that his father had gotten divorced (again) and had moved halfway across the world…(again). Thanks to that, he never again had to clean up after the young devil spawns. It was a good Birthday.

The alcohol buzz had long since worn off, and Scanlan found himself trudging through the dark, unforgiving winter streets. After what seemed like hours of mindless wandering - there it was. A welcoming looking coffee shop nestled in the corner, almost like it was a sign. A sign as clear as the one in the coffee shop window reading “Open.” Stuffing his chilled hands into his pockets, he fumbled around for any loose change he had lying about before pushing open the door to the only coffee shop that seemed to be open at this heinous hour. Perhaps writing here would be better that writing at a stiff bar stool with a glass of whiskey.

A blast of warm air invited him in, as did a young woman hurrying from behind the desk to pin her nametag to her shirt. She fumbled for a moment, before seemingly giving up, and moving to the counter.

“Hi! Welcome to The Sunrise Stop. Can I get you anything?” The smile she gave him was warm and sunny and, frankly, one he didn't expect at 5am. Either she just had a very cheery disposition, or was very good at her job.

“Oh, i’d like a… uh… latte. I guess. Something with lots of caffeine, actually? ...You know what,” he pauses to give his best wink at the lady in front of him, “surprise me.”

She looked startled by his choice momentarily, before seeming to rise to the challenge and giving a confident nod. “Alright! I’ll bring it over when it’s done!” He nodded, flashed a quick smile, and found a seat towards the back of the shop. 

He frowned, chewing on his bottom lip in thought as he pulled off his coat and placed it over the arm of the chair. Pulling out a notebook and a pen, he began tapping the paper, as if that would miraculously give him any new ideas. Despite his best efforts, however, nothing seemed to come to him immediately. He sighed, and softly started humming to himself a tune that had been stuck in his head for nearing a month now. A tune, but still no words to accompany it. He chewed on his lip for a moment, before deciding to try working on a different song instead. 

Slowly, his eyes began to wander. To the door he’d just come in through, at the snow that was beginning to drift down from the sky. At the number of pictures hung up on the walls - stray bits of bunting were still hung over a few of them, leftovers from valentine's day the week before. To the woman stood at the coffee machine, concentrating so hard that her tongue had begun to poke out of her mouth a little. It was cute. 

He found himself staring - whether or not he wanted to. Watching her delighted smile as she began the finishing touches. She gave a small nod, before turning and looking straight into his eyes. There was a split second where their eyes interlocked and Scanlan felt his face heat up in an instant. Had she caught him staring?

He quickly turned his gaze back to his notebook full of scribbled out lyrics, and moved it to the side to make way for the coffee cup. Moments later, a large cup of steaming coffee was placed in front of him. In the froth at the top, there was drawn a picture of a sun.

“Here's your drink, sir!” The woman said cheerfully. Scanlan lifted his gaze and matched his smile to her own warm grin.

“Thank you!” He smiled and took it from the table, cradling the warm cup in his hands for a moment.

“You write music?” Scanlan looked up, startled, to see the woman peering curiously over his notebook. “Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to be nosy.” She quickly took a small step back, averting her gaze.

“Oh, no it's fine! Yeah, I try and write sometimes, but nothing seems to be coming today.” He flipped through a few pages of his finished works. “If you're interested, I can show you some things during your break?” He gave her a cheeky grin and a wink. She seemed taken aback - flustered, almost. She really was cute.

“I'd love to, but… my break isn't for hours yet.”

Scanlan shrugged, gesturing to his notebook and giving a slight grimace. “I'll be here a while.”

“Well…” She glanced around the room a bit, “We’re pretty empty at the moment, if you wouldn’t mind me…?” Scanlan nodded, giving a smile and gesturing to the seat opposite him. 

The woman pulled out the chair and plopped herself down in front of him as Scanlan continues with his attempt at writing *something* at least. She watched him for a moment as he brought the pen up to his mouth and began chewing on the lid absently.

“How long have you been writing music?” She asked, leaning forward curiously.

“For fun? Since I could write, I think. I've been doing it professionally for around 5 years now,” he explained. 

The woman paused awkwardly a moment, “Hey… You don’t happen to have a youtube channel, do you?”

Scanlan gave a startled look, before feeling his cheeks quickly heat up. “Yeah, I do… Have you, uh, seen it?”

“Yeah! I mean, I used to listen to your covers a lot when I did coursework. It, uh.” She glanced down at the floor, staring at the cup of coffee in front of him. “Your videos. Meant a lot. To me. Y’know?”

He blinked, chewing on his lips slowly in an attempt to process the thought that someone had seen his videos and liked them.

His YouTube channel had little under a thousand followers, containing covers, original songs, as well as an EP called Inspiration he’d released a couple of years ago. Currently, he was working on what was supposed to be his first full album. He really needed some of that inspiration right about now. The woman in front of him was shifting awkwardly in her seat, seemingly trying to contain a smile - it took him a moment to realise he’d gotten so lost in thought that he hadn’t even replied to her.

“I- thank you. That means a lot, that you like my videos.” He paused, before changing the subject “How long have you been working here?”

“A little over a year now. I started as a christmas temp, but they offered me a full time job once the christmas period was over.”

“Did you always want to be a barista?”

She barked out a laugh and shook her head, “I wanted to be a doctor for a long time. But, y’know, stuff happens. It didn’t happen.” She paused a moment, before leaning in to whisper, “But don’t tell my boss that. I really went overboard with the whole ‘I’ve always wanted to be a barista’ deal during the interview. I think she bought it.”

It was Scanlan’s turn to let out a laugh. “I’m Scanlan, by the way.” 

“I know.” She gave him another sunny grin, before holding out her own hand. “Pike Trickfoot!”

“Pike” he repeated, as if testing the name on his tongue. “Pike is a lovely name.” He thinks he saw the beginnings of a blush, but it could've been the light. He finds himself staring. Her glossy lips, the strands of hair that fall into her face, her blue eyes, her face full of freckles. He feels his cheeks heat up and, immediately, he grabs his cup to take a giant gulp of coffee.

“So… Where do you usually work?”

“I do some odd jobs here and there. I work part time at a music shop, mostly. Sometimes I do taster lessons over there for people unsure whether they want to give learning an instrument a try. I have a youtube channel on the side, too, but that’s only for, well, publicity.” 

The door at the front of the shop chimed open, and Pike hurriedly stood to see two customers making their way to the front desk. “I should go,”

“Ah well, all good things come to an end.” Scanlan smiled, “It was nice talking to you! I’ll see you again?”

“Yeah!” She gave him one last grin before scurrying off to tend to the new customers.

Surprisingly, when he looked down, there was an entire page of ideas for lyrics and melodies squeezed into every nook and cranny he could get them into. He blinked, somewhat shocked that he barely even remembered what he'd written - only that it must've been Pike who had given him the inspiration to do it. 

Quickly finishing off his coffee, he exited the shop with a bounce in his step and a smile on his face left uncontained. _Pike._ Her name danced around on his tongue pleasantly. _Her name is Pike._

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to get this out for a while, and now the campaign has ended ( ;_; ) I figured i'd post this now!! this is my first slow burn fic lmao so wish me luck. Thanks for reading!! ^^ and thank you to Jable for betaing for me! you were such a great help omg. and thanks to Kymal for giving me the name :p


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